PROGRAM

Vienna favorites:

• MOZART Piano Trio in G Major, K.564 (1788).
• BRAHMS Piano Trio in C Minor, Op.101 (1886).
• SCHUBERT Trio in B-Flat Major, Op.99, D.898 (1827).
  

Pre-Concert Talk: Roger Emanuels (at 6:15PM)

MUSIC

Mozart’s last, and shortest, piano trio is flawlessly crafted, balanced and nuanced, with home-music charm.

Brahms’ final piano trio richly, but concisely, explores its passionate theme with concentrated intensity.
Robert Schumann said of Schubert’s radiant, cheerful and expansive B-Flat Trio (it makes) “all the troubles of our human existence disappear and all the world fresh and bright again.”

ARTISTS

Celebrated for combining finesse, infectious exuberance, tonal allure, and irresistable panache, the Vienna Piano Trio has long been hailed as one of the “world’s leading ensembles” – Washington Post. Founded in 1988, the Trio performs in major festivals and concert halls worldwide (among them Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and regularly at Wigmore Hall). The Trio’s recordings have won prestigious prizes, including the Echo Klassik award, and will release Brahms CDs in 2016.

Vienna Piano Trio

PROGRAM

• Carl Maria VON WEBER Clarinet Quintet in B-Flat Major, Op.34 (1815).
• Chad CANNON Citizen 13660 – (8) Vignettes (2014) (clarinet quintet).
• Aaron COPLAND Sextet for Clarinet, Piano and String Quartet (1937 arrangement of his 1932 Short Symphony).
• Sergei PROKOFIEV Sextet in G Minor, Op.34, Overture on Hebrew
  Themes (1919).
  

Pre-Concert Talk: Janet Sims (at 6:15PM)

MUSIC

In Weber’s concerto-like Quintet, strings support the clarinet’s lovely operatic melodies and virtuosic effects.
A Farallon commission, Chad Cannon’s Citizen 13660 depicts the internment camp life faced by Japanese-Americans during WWII.
Copland’s Short Symphony as sextet delights with constantly shifting meters and accents.
Prokofiev’s Overture captures the essence of Eastern-European Yiddish and klezmer music.

ARTISTS

The Farallon Quintet—with leading Bay Area musicians Natalie Parker, Dan Flanagan, Matthew Oshida, Elizabeth Prior, and Jonah Kim—was founded in 2012 to uniquely specialize in works, classic and new, for clarinet quintet—string quartet plus clarinet. Their 20+ concerts in 14/15 included works they commissioned and a residency at Old First Concerts.

Farallon Clarinet Quintet

PROGRAM

• French music from the Court at Versailles, including works by
  LULLY, MARAIS, F. COUPERIN, and RAMEAU.
• Selection of traditional Scottish tunes in seventeenth and eighteenth century arrangements.

Pre-Concert Talk:  Roger Emanuels and Trio Settecento members
(at 6:15PM)

MUSIC

French Music from the Age of Enlightenment. Enjoy repertoire composed for theater and salon from the courts of Louis XIV and XV, including dance music, character pieces, and Italianate sonatas. The the evening closes with airs and dances from Scotland.

ARTISTS

Since 1996, Trio Settecento—Chicago-based virtuosi Rachel Barton Pine, violin; John Mark Rozendaal, cello/gamba; and David Schrader, harpsichord—has performed period-instrument music across the U.S. and on CDs. Their passionate and authoritative interpretations of Age of Enlightenment music renew the pleasures of old favorites, and reveal delights of new discoveries. “Fascinating music, played with real authority and flair.” – BBC Magazine. “Wonderfully vital and buoyant performances.” – Fanfare.

Trio Settecento

PROGRAM

• BEETHOVEN Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in B-Flat Major,
  Op.11 (1796).
• Alexander ZEMLINSKY Clarinet Trio in D Minor, Op.3 (1896).
• Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD Suite for violin and piano from Much Ado About Nothing, Op.11 (1918-19).
• BRAHMS Piano Trio #2 in C Major, Op.87 (1882).

Pre-Concert Talk:  Roger Emanuels  (at 6:15PM)

MUSIC

Beethoven’s Clarinet Trio is fresh, spontaneous and charming.
Brahms, greatly impressed with Zemlinsky’s lyrical Trio, immediately commended it to his publisher Simrock.
Vienna’s Burgtheater commissioned Korngold’s romantic incidental music for Shakespeare’s play, and the music’s great success led to this duet version.
Brahms’ Trio #2 explores a wide emotional range, expansively transforming its wealth of melody.

ARTISTS

The Gould Trio has stayed at the forefront of the world chamber music scene for over 20 years, with regular U.S. and Asian tours, and an impressive discography. “Pure Gould…trio playing at its best.” – The Strad.
Robert Plane, Principal Clarinet of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, won Classic CD Magazine’s “Best Recording Award”. “Plane’s clarinet has an eloquent and expressive voice.” – The Times of London.

Gould Piano Trio  • Robert Plane 

PROGRAM

• HAYDN (unfinished) Quartet in D Minor (two movements), Op.103 (1803).
• SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet #2 in A Major, Op.68 (1944).
• BEETHOVEN Quartet #15 in A Minor, Op.132 (1824-25).
  

Pre-Concert Talk:  Roger Emanuels (at 7:15PM)

MUSIC

Haydn’s Op.103, two movements of an unfinished quartet, constitutes his farewell to the form he brought to greatness.
The Dover find pairing Shostakovich and Beethoven quartets to be quite effective programming.
The symphonic breadth of Shostakovich’s wartime quartet reflects the epic Great Patriotic War and Russia’s heroic aspirations.
Beethoven’s quartet includes a hauntingly beautiful Song of Thanksgiving (Heiliger Dankgesang), penned upon his recovering from a great illness.

ARTISTS

The Dover Quartet leapt to stardom with a stunning sweep of the 2013 Banff Competition, becoming one of the world’s most in-demand ensembles. Further confirming their artistic excellence, they received the 2015 Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s 2016 Hunt Family Award. The Washington Post raved that “(their) Kennedy Center debut shows why they should be on the must-hear list…a triumph.”

Dover String Quartet